Pension reform among issues still facing lawmakers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. 
California lawmakers head into their final deadline rush this week with some of the most pressing legislative matters still to be resolved, or even publicly revealed.

Democratic leaders are pledging to pass comprehensive changes to the state's overburdened public pension systems before they adjourn on Friday, as Gov. Jerry Brown has been asking them to do. But Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said lawmakers are still working out the details with the Democratic governor.

Similarly opaque is a proposal to overhaul the state's $16 billion system for providing medical care and compensation to injured workers.

Brown is supporting the late-developing workers' compensation negotiations. Business and labor interests say change is needed to improve benefits for injured workers and keep costs down for employers.

But supporters have yet to reveal specific language, instead releasing a 45-point outline. The proposed changes could increase benefits for disabled workers by about $700 million while saving businesses and government employers twice that amount by cutting benefits for some conditions and putting less weight on lost potential earnings.

If it passes, the deal would seek to make improvements on a round of reforms passed in 2004 under then-Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lawmakers also are considering whether last-minute legislation would be needed to enable the California Department of Motor Vehicles to give driver's licenses to an estimated 350,000 young immigrants who are in the country illegally but are now eligible for federal work permits under President Obama's deferred deportation program.

A bill by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, would allow any federal document received by a person eligible for the deportation deferral to be used when applying for a state driver's license. Cedillo's previous proposals to allow licenses for all illegal immigrants have failed or been vetoed over security concerns.

""We obviously still have to complete the pension package. There's work being done on workers' compensation," said Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "There's a lot of important public policy at stake, so it will be a hustle and bustle, but what I expect to come out of it are some important advancements around education, the economy and other important subjects."

Lawmakers face a midnight Friday deadline to send bills to Brown before they adjourn until after the November election.

Among the details still being worked out on public pension reform are minimum retirement ages and how much employees contribute to their own benefits.

The governor proposed a 12-point pension plan that raises the retirement age to 67 to match Social Security and moves new workers to a hybrid system in which defined benefits are combined with a 401(k)-style plan like those widely used in the private sector.

Brown also wants public employees to contribute a minimum of 50 percent of their pension costs, but Democrats and labor organizations want to be able to negotiate the level of contributions through collective bargaining.

Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff complained that the Democratic majority has dragged its feet as pension problems worsen beyond the $150 billion unfunded liability reported by the state's public pension funds for government workers and teachers.